Parkinson's disease ("PD") was first described in 1817 by James Parkinson in a paper entitled "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy". PD is characterized by slowing of movement, muscular rigidity, postural abnormality and tremor. The severity of the symptoms can vary from the merely inconvenient to completely disabling.
The precise cause of PD is as yet unknown; however drug treatment is commonly and effectively used to treat the symptoms of the disease. In addition, more recently, surgical treatment has been used to treat the disease.
It is also known that induced shaking of the body can reduce the symptoms of PD and provide at least temporary relief from the effects of the disease. For example, the Charcot Chair, which was invented by a Professor Charcot was developed from the relief from long rides in railroad or carriage cars. The Charcot Chair was essentially a full-size arm chair vibrated by an electric motor. The PD patient was placed in the chair which vibrated and shook the entire body of the patient indiscriminately. Another device developed by a Dr. Gilles de la Tourette, a pupil of Professor Charcot, was a vibrating helmet having a motor which induced vibrations at about ten cycles per second. Apparently, the helmet was somewhat effective in the treatment of migraines and nervous headaches; however, this treatment is necessarily limited to the treatment of the head and neck region. Therefore, what is desired is a novel, non-invasive, low-cost, portable and effective device and treatment method for Parkinson's disease, which can be directed toward certain areas of the body of the patient. The device of the present invention includes a housing which supports a linearly, horizontally reciprocating foot support for inducing shaking in the foot, ankle, leg and body of the patient. The housing encloses a motor and linkage which serve to reciprocate the foot support pad in a horizontal plane at an amplitude of approximately 11/2 inches. The foot support pad preferably includes a non-skid surface and is situated at a height of approximately 7 inches off the ground, on which the housing of the shaking device is placed.
The housing contains a set of spaced-apart bars which slidably support an upper plate rigidly connected to the foot support pad. The bars also independently slidably support a lower plate to which the motor and drive linkage are attached. The lower plate is resiliently attached to the frame by a spring/shock-absorbing mechanism to locate and dampen the movement of the lower plate. The linkage of the shaking device consists of a fly wheel connected to the motor by a belt and a linkage arm pivotally connected to the fly wheel and the upper plate. Thus the rotation of the fly wheel induced by the motor causes the upper plate and the foot support pad attached thereto to reciprocate back and forth in a sinusoidal motion. The motion induced to the upper plate and foot support pad induces an opposite, complementary motion in the lower plate, linkage and motor. Thus, it can be appreciated that the motor and linkage induce movement in the foot support without causing substantial vibration in the housing. Furthermore, such balanced movement is not upset by resistance applied to the foot support pad by the foot of a patient.
The method of the present invention involves providing one of the above described shaking devices, placing the patient on a fixed support, such as a chair or bench above the shaking device, placing one or more feet of the patient on the foot support pad of the shaking device and inducing shaking in the foot, lower leg and body of the patient for a period of time. The shaking device can be oriented to reciprocate forward and backward relative to the patient or can be oriented to reciprocate laterally with respect to the patient. In addition, the patient can be positioned to vary and direct the induced shaking and the effects thereof on the body. For example, the patient can be placed or seated in a chair with the shaking device located under the outstretched leg of the patient, touching only the heel. Alternatively, the shaking device can be moved closer to the patient such that the entire sole of the foot contacts the foot support pad, or the patient can be placed such that only the ball or toe region of the foot touches the foot support pad. It will be appreciated that these different foot and leg positions will induce shaking in a body to different extents. In addition, the upper body of the patient can be positioned to vary the effect and extent of the shaking induced in the patient's body. For example, the patient's body can be positioned in a reclined or extended position to substantially limit the shaking induced in the body to the lower leg region. Alternatively, the patient can be positioned over (or actually standing) over the shaking device to induce shaking in substantially the whole body of the patient. Furthermore, the patient can be positioned in a any one of a multitude of positions between the two previously described extremes to optimize the effect and extent of the vibration induced in the body.
It can be appreciated that the device is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and thus it is available to a wide range of persons suffering from PD. In addition, the device is relatively small, lightweight and portable.
For a more complete understanding of the above, and other features and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and to the accompanying drawings.